The present invention relates to a method for monitoring components in a mixture. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for monitoring components in a mixture wherein at least one component includes a taggant which is monitored to determine the amount of that one component in the mixture.
It is often desirable to maintain two or more components of a particular mixture separated until such time as the components need to be mixed and/or combined to form the particular mixture. For example, many mixtures, (e.g., adhesive mixtures) have components which, when mixed or combined, tend to dry or cure and form a solid. Therefore, the components within an adhesive mixture must remain separated until such time as the adhesive is to be applied to an article of manufacture. Otherwise, the components will solidify prior to being applied to an article of manufacture thereby rendering the adhesive mixture useless.
Consequently, mixing assemblies or systems have been developed which combine components of mixtures and/or adhesives according to certain ratios such that the components of the mixture may be separate until such time as the mixture is needed. An example of such an assembly or system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,151, to Ondrus (the xe2x80x9c""151xe2x80x99 patentxe2x80x9d), which is fully and completely incorporated herein by reference.
Mixing systems, such as the one disclosed in the ""151 patent, are typically used in conjunction with conventional methods to produce mixtures having a particular ratio of components. The systems conventionally include a first component which includes or contains a taggant (i.e., a material which can be detected and monitored) and a second component. Both the first and second components are directed toward a mixing location where the mixture is formed and, thereafter, the mixture flows toward a dispensing location where a predetermined amount of mixture is dispensed for a predetermined period of time upon an article of manufacture. The predetermined amount of mixture and/or the predetermined amount of time for which adhesive is dispensed to an article of manufacture is referred to as a cycle.
Furthermore, in these conventional systems, the taggant in the first component is monitored at a first location where the first component is flowing or traveling alone toward the mixing location, and at a second location where the mixture is flowing toward the dispensing location after the first and second components have been mixed or combined. The amount or concentration of taggant monitored at each location is then converted into data and is conventionally manipulated to determine the proportion or amount at which the first and second components reside or exist in the mixture for a particular cycle (i.e., the predetermined amount and/or time of dispensing mixture on a particular article). The proportion or amount of one or both of the components for the cycle is then compared to a target proportion or amount at which the component or components are to be dispensed to insure that there is a proper amount of the first and second component in the mixture.
These conventional methods and/or systems for monitoring a mixture suffer from drawbacks. For example, the conventional method only measures the proportion of the first component and/or the second component in the mixture for a single average of the entire cycle or at particular isolated moments in the cycle. Consequently, there could be large fluctuations in the proportion or amount of the first component and the second components during a single cycle that a conventional system would ignore because the fluctuations could be offset in the single average of the entire cycle, or the measurement at isolated moments may not be taken during a fluctuation in amounts of components. If such fluctuations are present and remain ignored, mixtures having undesirable proportions of the first and second components will be dispensed on portions of articles of manufacture, thereby resulting in a defective or useless adhesive. There is therefore a need for a method and/or system which assures that mixture is dispensed in proper proportion and/or amount on an article of manufacture.
It is a first object of the present invention to provide a method for monitoring a mixture which overcomes the previously delineated drawbacks of prior methods of monitoring a mixture.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a method for monitoring a mixture which insures that the components of a mixture are dispensed on an article of manufacture in a proper proportion and/or amount.
According to a first aspect of the present invention a method for monitoring a mixture in a system which includes a first component and a second component flowing toward a mixing location, the first component including a taggant, the monitoring performed for cycles of dispensing the mixture and the method comprising the steps of: acquiring first concentration values of the taggant in the first component of first predetermined intervals of time during one of the cycles; acquiring second concentration values of the taggant in the mixture at the first predetermined intervals of time; determining amounts of the first component in the mixture at the first predetermined intervals of time within the one of the cycles using the second concentration values; determining first average amounts of the first component in the mixture at secondary predetermined intervals of time within the one of the cycles, the secondary predetermined intervals of time being larger than the first predetermined intervals of time; and determining a second average amount of the first component in the mixture for the entirety of one of the cycles.
According to a second aspect of the present invention a method for monitoring a mixture in a system which includes a first component and a second component flowing toward a mixing location, the first component including a taggant, the mixture dispensed in cycles and the method comprising the steps of: determining amounts of the first component in the mixture at first predetermined intervals of time; determining first average amounts of the first component in the mixture at secondary predetermined intervals of time within the one of said cycles, the secondary predetermined intervals of time being larger than the first predetermined intervals of time.
These and other objects, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description in combination with the accompanying drawings.